Combination article-supporting and display rack and storage cabinet unit



Aug. 19, 1958 I R.4 E. sANDBl-:RG A 2,848,294

COMBINATION ARTICLE-SUPPORTING AND DISPLAY I RACK AND STORAGE CABINETUNIT ATTORNEYS Aug. 19, 1958 R. E. sANDBERG 2,848,294

COMBINATION ARTICLE-SUPPORTING AND DISPLAY RACK AND STORAGE CABINET UNITFiled Jan. 5, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS Aug. 19, 1958 R. E. sANDBERG 2,848,294

COMBINATION ARTICLE-SUPPORTING AND DISPLAY RACK AND STORAGE CABINET UNITFlled Jan. 3, 1956 n 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 1% 5 I I G 4/ a. r| 3 ATTORNEYS2,848,294 E-sUPPoRTING AND DISPLAY RACK AND STORAGE CABINET UNIT 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan. 3, 1956 Nam I 11111111, fllallll'llllfnl'l'lplm .--:---1-.:---Ji:itil: fiii ,IWJ N 1 E. E l-N wwwi w oww mw www R uw @di QN NTOR. DBERG @fk/M ATTORNEYS United StatesPatent G COMBINATION ARTICLE-SUPPORTING AND DES- PLAY RACK AND STORAGECABINET UNIT Robert E. Sandberg, North Warren, Pa., assigner to RoyaiMetal Manufacturing Company, Chicago, ill., a corporation of illinoisApplication lanuary 3, 1956, Seriai No. 556,336

1 Claim. (Cl. S12-234) This invention relates to storage cabinets and,more particularly, to a combination article-supporting and display rackand a storage cabinet unit particularly well adapted for the storage oftemplates, keys, engineering drawings, display room samples of textiles,or various other articles which it may be desired to mount substantiallyflat on vertically extending combination supporting and display racksfor storage in a compact space, when not in use, while enabling each ofsaid combination supporting and display racks to be readily withdrawnfrom its storage cabinet for examination and removal of any desiredarticle therefrom, as and when desired.

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel storage cabinetunit of the aforementioned type which includes a plurality of spacedstorage cabinets having a plurality of trackways extending into each ofsaid storage cabinets with each of said trackways being adapted tosupport a pair of combination article-supporting and display racks sothat any selected one of the combination article-supporting and displayracks may be readily and quickly withdrawn from its storage cabinet intoan intercabinet space provided between two of the storage cabinets forexamination or removal of one or more articles mounted thereon, and sothat the selected article-supporting and display rack may then bereadily returned to its position in one of the storage cabinets.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved storagecabinet unit which is particularly well adapted for use in the storageof templates, keys, and other objects, and which is so arranged andconstructed that the combination article-supporting and display racksembodied therein may be readily and selectively withdr-awn from therespective storage cabinets in which they are normally housed, forexamination of the articles mounted thereon and for removal of any sucharticles as and when desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide in the new combinationarticle-supporting and display rack and storage unit -a novel trackwayconstruction for slidably mounting a plurality of the combinationarticle-supporting and display racks thereon and so that the saidcombination article-supporting and display racks may be readily andquickly withdrawn from and returned to the storage cabinets in a minimumof time and with a minimum amount of effort.

A further `object of the invention is to provide in each of thetrackways which are embodied in the invention a novel latching devicefor preventing the accidental complete withdrawal of the display racksfrom the storage cabinets,

Another object of my invention is to afford a novel storage cabinet unit`of the aforementioned type wherein the parts thereof are so constitutedand arranged as to permit the complete removal of the display rackstherefrom in a novel and expeditious manner.

Another object of my invention is to afford a novel combinationarticle-supporting and display rack and story 2,848,294 Patented Aug.19, 1958 age cabinet which is compact in size both for storage anddisplay purposes.

Yet another object `of my invention is to afford a novel device of theaforementioned type which is compact in size but with which full displayof articles mounted on the display racks may be effected in a no-vel andexpeditious manner.

A further object of my invention is to afford a novel storage cabinetunit of the aforementioned type, the storage capacity of which may bereadily increased or reduced in a novel and expeditious manner.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent fromthe following description and claims and are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show a preferredembodiment of the present invention and the principles thereof and whatI now consider to be the best mode in which l have contemplated applyingthese principles. Other embodiments of the inventions embodying the sameor equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be madeas desired by those skilled in the art Without departing from thepresent invention and the purview of the appended claim.

in the drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevational View of a combination article-supportingand display rack and storage cabinet unit embodying the principles of myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of the storage cabinet unit shown inFig. l;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of one of the newcombination article-supporting and display racks' embodied in thepresent invention;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional detail view takensubstantially along the line 5-5 in Fig, 4;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary View partly in section, partly inelevation, showing the construction of one of the new trackways on whichthe new combination article-supporting and display racks are movablymounted for withdrawal from, and return to, their respective storagecabinet-s;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional view substantially on line 7 7 in Fig. 6showing the details of the trackway construction and the means by whichthe combination article-supporting and display racks are removablysuspended therefrom; i

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view of a portion of the deviceshown in Fig. 6 with the parts thereof disposed in dierent positions;

Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view taken substantially along the line 9-9in Fig, 8;

Fig. l0 is a detail sectional View taken substantially along the lineiti-lil in Fig. l; and

Fig. l1 is a detail sectional view taken substantially along the line illl in Fig. l0.

A preferred embodiment of the new combination article-supporting anddisplay rack and storage cabinet unit is illustrated in the drawings,wherein it is generally indicated at Titi, and includes a plurality ofstorage cabinets il. Each of the storage cabinets ll is substantiallysquare in hori'tontal cross-section, and embodies a framework l2including four steel channel-shaped corner posts it-a, Elib, Tide andldd, with the posts 14 aand Mb disposed at one side of the cabinet il,herein referred to as the inner side, and the posts idc and 14d disposedat the opposite side of the cabinet il, herein referred to as the outerside. The posts ida-d are identical in construction.

The framework l2 of each cabinet lll also includes two channel-shaped,elongated bottom runners 16 and 17 in which the legs rest, and twohorizontal top rails 19 and mounted on the corner posts 14, Figs. l and2, as will be discussed in greater detail presently.

The runners 16 are substantially rectangular shaped channel membershaving two upright longitudinal sidewalls 16a and 16b interconnected bya bottom wall 16C, and having a longitudinally extending liange 161!projecting outwardly in a horizontal direction from the top edge of theside wall 16h, Fig. l.

The runners 17 are similar to the runners 16, having two side walls 17aand 17h, a bottom wall17c, and a flange 17d projecting outwardly fromthe top of thc side wall 17h, but, in addition, have anotherlongitudinally extending ange 17e projecting outwardly from the sidewall 17a in the same horizontal plane as the flange 17d, Fig. l.

The runners 16 and 17 in each cabinet 11 are disposed in substantiallyparallel relation to each other with the runner 16 disposed under theinner legs 14a and 141), and the runner 17 disposed under the outer legs14e and 14d. The legs 14 tit into the runners 16 and 17 with arelatively snug fit and are secured thereto by suitable means such asscrews 22, each runner 16 and 17 terminating at each of its ends inhorizontal alignment with the vertical center line of the adjacent leg14, Fig. 3.

The top rails 19 and 20 are identical in construction to the runners 16and 17, respectively, and the parts thereof are indicated in thedrawings by reference numerals having the same sutiixes as thecorresponding parts of the runners 16 and 17, Fig. 1.

The top rails 19 and 20, in each of the cabinets 11, are mounted on, andextend between the inner posts 14a and 14b, and the outer posts 14C and14d, respectively, substantially vertically above, and in parallelrelation to the runners 16 and 17, respectively. The posts 14a-d fitinto the channel-shaped body portions of the rails 19 and 2l) and aresecured in such position by screws 24, Fig. 3. Like the runners 16 and17, the rails 19 and 20 terminate at their ends inhorizontal alignmentwith the longitudinal center lines of the legs 14a-d on which they aremounted.

Each of the cabinets 11 is disposed in parallel spaced relation toanother one of the cabinets 11, Figs. l and 2, with the inner sides ofthe two cabinets 11 facing each other, to thereby afford aninter-cabinet space which affords a combination aisle and display area26, between the two cabinets 11, Figs. l and 2.

A plurality of substantially parallel trackways 28, which arechannel-shaped in cross section, are mounted on and extend between thecabinets 11 in each of the aforementioned pair of cabinets, Figs. l and2. Each of the trackways 28 includes a substantially horizontallyextending, channel-shaped top rail portion 28a, and a channel shapedbottom rail portion 28b, connected together by a vertically extendingsupporting wall 28C, Fig. 7. Each of the trackways 28 depends from, andis connected by suitable means such as bolts 30 to, the flanges 19d and20e of the top rails 19 and 20, respectively, of each of the cabinets inthe pair of cabinets between which the trackways 28 extend, Figs. 2 and7.

The present invention includes a plurality of articlesupporting anddisplay racks 32, each of which is movably supported by a pair ofanti-friction rollers 34- which travel on the bottom ange 28h of one ofthe trackways 2S, Figs. 6 and 7. Each of the rollers 34 is rotatablymounted on a shaft 36 which projects horizontally from the upper endportion of a hanger bracket or arm 37. The lower end portion of thehanger bracket 37 is attached by suitable fastening elements such asscrews or bolts 39 to the outer face of the rear wall 32a of one of theracks 32, Fig. 7.

The rear wall 32a of each rack 32 is preferably substantiallyrectangular shaped, and a continuous flange 32b projects perpendicularlyfrom the lateral edges thereof. Each of the racks 32 has a plurality ofapertures or holes 41, Figs. 4 and 6, formed in the rear wall 32athereof, in

suitably spaced relationship, and in any desired design or pattern. Eachof these apertures or holes 41 is adapted to receive a suitablearticle-supporting element or member such as, for example, the shank 43aof a supporting-hook 43, Fig. 5, having an upturned outer or front endportion 43b, and having a threaded inner or rear end portion 43e whichis projected through one of the holes 41 and held therein by suitablemeans such as a ange 43d, and a .nut 4S disposed on the opposite sidesof the rear wall 32a of the rack 30.

Each or" the racks 32 is of such size that it may be I disposed invertical position within its storage cabinet 11, in such position thatwhen the outer vertical edge of the rack 32 is disposed in parallelrelation to the longitudinal center line of the outer posts 14e and 14d,the inner vertical edge of the rack 32 is disposed inwardly of the innerface of the inner posts 14a and 14]). The pair of hangers 37 mounted oneach of the racks 32 are so disposed thereon that when the racks 32 aredisposed within their storage cabinets 11, the hangers 37 are disposedwithin the confines of the cabinets 11. Also, the racks 32 are sodisposed on the hangers 37 that when the racks 32 are supported by thehangers 37 from thc trackways 28, the lower edges of the racks 32 aredisposed in upwardly spaced relation to the horizontal plane of the topface of the runners 16 and 17, Fig. l.

A plurality of elongated guides 47 are mounted on and extend between theinner flanges 16d and 17d of the runners 16 'and 17 of each of thecabinets 11, Figs. l and l()v Each of the guides 47 embodies asubstantially horizontally extending lateral edge portion 47a from onelongitudinal edge portion of which a downwardly opening substantiallychannel-shaped portion 47b projects laterally and upwardly, Fig. 10. Theguides 47 are secured to the runners 16 and 17 by suitable means such asbolts 49 which extend through the lateral edge portions 47a of theguides 47 into the anges 16d and 17d of the runners 16 and 17. Theguides 47 are disposed on the runners 16 and 17 in spaced parallelrelation to each other, and in such position that they afford upwardlyopening tracks or guideways 51, Fig. 10, which are so disposed relativeto a respective one of the trackways 28, that when a rack 32 issupported by the hanger brackets 37 from the trackway 28, the lower endportion of the rack 32 is disposed in the guideway 51 and is free tomove longitudinally thereof as the rack 32 is moved on its rollers 34along the respective trackway 28.

An elongated latching member 53, having a substantially V-shaped notch53a formed in one end thereof is pivotally mounted at its other end by apin 55 to the vertical wall 28:: of each trackway 28, Figs. 6 and 7. Anopening 57 is formed in the inner end portion of the top flange 32h oneach of the racks 32, and the latching member 53 is so disposed on thetrackway 28, that the free end portion thereof rides on the upper faceof the top flange 321; in such position that the notch 53a thereinprojects rearwardly or inwardly toward the opening 57. When a rack 32 ismoved along a trackway 28 into the aisle 26 between two cabinets 11, thelatching member 53 rides thereon until the opening 57 moves intoalignment therewith. The free end portion of the latching member 53 thendrops downwardly into the opening S7 to engage the inner edge of theopening 57 in the notch 53a and thereby further outward movement of therack 32 into the aisle way 26. The positioning of the latch S3 on thetrackway 18 is such that this checking of outward movement of the latch32 is eected while the outer'vertical edge portions of the racks 32 arestill engaged between the traekways 47 extending between the runners 16and 17. In this manner, the racks 32 are rmly supported against lateralswinging movement thereof, when the latter are disposed in normaldisplay position in the aisle 26 between cabinets 11.

If it is desired to remove one of the racks 32 from a trackway 18, thismay be readily accomplished by manually releasing the latch 53 from itsengagement in the opening 57 and thereby permit the rack 32 to be fullywithdrawn from the cabinet into the aisle 26 between adjacent cabinets.This movement frees the lower end portion of the rack 32 from engagementwith the guides 47 so that by lifting on the rack 32 and swinging thelower end thereof a slight distance laterally, the rollers 34 on thehangers 37 may be disengaged from the trackway 28 on which they normallyrun, and the individual rack 32 may thereby be removed from the trackway28.

A stop member S8, in the form of a vertically disposed, longitudinallyextending, partition wall, Figs. l, 10, and ll, is disposed in each ofthe runners 17. The stop member S8 projects upwardly above the guideways47 and is effective to engage the lower end portion of the racks 32 whenthe latter are disposed in fully concealed position in the cabinets 11,and thereby prevent the racks 32 from being moved inwardly into thecabinets 11 past the position wherein the outer edges of the racks 32are disposed in parallel relation to the longitudinal center line of theouter posts 14e and 14d.

A dip 59, Fig. 6, is formed in the inner end portion of the lower ange28h of each trackway 23, in such position that when the racks 32 aredisposed in normal stored position in the cabinets 11, the roller 34 onthe outer hanger 37 is disposed in the dip 59 in the trackway 28 tothereby yieldingly hold the racks 32 from being accidentally moved outof stored position in the cabinet 11 into display position therebetween.

With a combination display rack and storage cabinet constructed inaccordance with the principles of my invention, each pair of storagecabinets 11 affords storage space and display space for a plurality ofcompactly arranged racks 32. Also, it will be seen that the combinationdisplay rack and storage cabinet unit may be readily enlarged bothlongitudinally and laterally, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 2.

Thus, for example, to enlarge the combination display rack and storagecabinet laterally, two pairs of posts 14a and 14b may be disposed inupright position in the parallel relation to the posts 14b and 14e ofthe respective cabinets 11 previously disposed in an assembled relation.Two new pairs of runners 16 and 17 may be disposed in longitudinalalignment with the previously assembled pairs of runners 16 and 17, withone end of each of the new runners 16 and 17 disposed under one of thepreviously assembled posts 14h and 14C, respectively. ATwo new pairs ofupper rails 19 and 20 may be disposed in longitudinal alignment with thepreviously assembled pairs of rails 19 and 26, with one end of each ofthe new rails 19 and 20 mounted on one of the previously assembled posts14h and 14C, respectively. In this construction, the posts 14h and 14Catiord common posts for both the first and second pairs of cabinets 11,Fig. 2. The other parts of this new pair of cabinets are then arrangedin the same manner previously discussed with respect to the first pairof cabinets.

Similarly, to extend the combination display rack and storage cabinetunit longitudinally, the outer flanges 20d of the top rail 20 previouslymounted on the first pair of cabinets afford the inner liange for thenew trackways 2S for the support of one end thereof. Two pairs of innerposts 14a and 14]; and one pair of outer posts Vc and 14d need merelythen be added in parallel relation to the previously erectedcorresponding posts, and the necessary additional runners 16 and 17 andtop rails 19 and 2d may then be added to the posts, and the other partsof the combination article display rack and storage cabinet unit maythen be installed as previously described.

Brace members 61 are preferably secured to the upper faces of the inneranges 20e and 19d of the top rails 20 and 19 in each of the storagecabinets 11 and suitable braces 63 and 64 are preferably disposedbetween each of the pairs of posts 14a and 14d, and 14'; and 14C,

respectively, Figs. l and 2. If desired, additional braces 66 may besecured to the outer faces of the posts 14C and 14d forming thelongitudinal outer ends of my novel display rack and storage cabinet,Fig. 3.

-If desired, a runner 16 may =be used in place of the `outer runners 17on the outer posts 14C and 14d forming the outer ends ot -a completestorage cabinet unit. This will eliminate the otherwise outwardlyprojecting flange 17e `so `as to eliminate any outwardly projectingmember which might trip an individual moving past the end of such acabinet. if such a procedure is followed, it is merely necessary toreplace the runner 16 with `a suitable runner 17 when it is desired toadd further storage cabinets on to that end of the combination displayrack and stonage cabinet unit.

In the use of the new combination article supporting and display rackand -storage cabinet unit 10 the articlesupporting and display racks 32will normally be stored in the storage cabinets 11, suspended from thetrackways 28, where they will occupy a minimum of storage space, andwhen itis desired to examine any Iof the combination rarticle-supportingand display racks 32 for any purpose, such as, for example, removing aselected template, pattern orother article or articles from yone or moreof the supporting hooks 43 this may =be readily accomplished by the useror operator, who need only position himself in the intercabinet space 26between the two storage cabinets 11 and manually pull the particulararticle-sup por-ting and display rack 32 he desires from one or theother of the storage cabinets 11 into the display area 26 between thetwo storage cabinets.

During this operation the selected article-supporting and display rack32 will ytravel on its rollers 34 along the Itrackway 28 into theintercabinet examination and work lspace 26 between `the two storagecabinets 11 and the notched outer end portion 53a of the correspondingpivoted latch dog 53 will ride upon the top wall of thearticle-supporting and display rack 32. However, when the selectedarticle-supporting and display rack 32 reaches its fully extended ordisplay position in the intercabinet examination and work space 26between the two storage cabinets 11, the notched outer end portion 53aof the corresponding pivoted latchdog 53 will drop, by gravity, into thecorresponding slot 57 in the top flange 32b of the correspondingarticle-supporting and display nack 32 so as to hold the selectedarticle supporting and display rack 32 against further withdrawal alongits trackway 2S :and in its proper position for examination and forwithdnawa-l `of -any desired article or articles from and replacement`of the same thereon.

After the desired article or :articles have been removed from theselected article-supporting [and display rack 32 rthe operator maymanually slide the rack 32 back into the cabinet 11, the latch 53 beingautomatically raised by the reverse movement of the rack 32.

It will thus be `seen from the foregoing description, considered inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, that the present inventionprovides a new and improved combination article-supporting and displayrack and storage cabinet having the desirable advantages andcharacteristics, and accomplishing Iits intended objects, includingthose hereinbefore pointed out Vand others which are inherent in theinvention.

Thus, while -I have illustrated and described the preferred embodimentof my invention, it is to be understood that this is capable ofvariation and modification, and I therefore do not wish to be limited tothe precise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of suchchanges and lalterations as fall within the purview of the followingclaim.

I claim:

A combination self-contained unitary article-supporting display rack andstorage cabinet unit for storing a plurality of relatively large attemplates, engineering drawrings, or like articles, `said uni-tcomprising a pair of cabinets, each including a skeletal steel supportstructure, ldisposed in' spaced relation to each other -to atord anintercabinet examination and work space, a plurality of parallelhorizontal channel-shaped trackways mounted on said cabinet `supportstructures, said trackways each extending completely :across theinter-cabinet `space and substantially completely across the upper partof both of said cabinets, la corresponding plurality of pairs ofrelatively flat combination article storage :and display racks eachadapted to be stored Within one of said cabinets and each including ahorizontally projecting peripheral protective ange of predeterminedheight, rack suspension means comprising at least two anti-frictionrollers mounted `on spaced vertically extending hanger elements aixed toeach of said racks, said rollers being adapted to engage in saidtracliways to suspend said lracks in pairs therefrom and to permitmovement of each of said racks along its trackway from a normal storedposition within a cabinet to a display position in said inter-cabinetspace, means for mounting a plurality of article supporting, hangers oneach `of said racks at any of a multiplicity of 4hanger positions toremovably suspend a variety of articles of differing sizes landconfiguration thereon within the confines of said protective llange,elongated guideways mounted below said trackways adjacent the lowerportions of said racks -in substantially parallel relation to thetrackways in position to guidingly engage said racks during movementthereof along said trackways, a plurality of latchdogs pivotally mountedon said trackways, each of said vlatchdogs having a latching end portionengageable in `a slot in the peripheral flange of one of said racks tolimit outwiar-d movement of said racks and prevent each of said racksfrom colliding with the other rack on the same trackway when moved todisplay position, stop means projecting upwardly above said guideways4to engage the lower end portions of said racks for limiting inwardmovement of said packs, and each of said trackways having a dip portionformed in the inner end portion thereof such that when the racks aredisposed in normal stored position, at least one of said rollersassociated with each yof said racks is disposed in said dip portion tothereby yieldingly hold the racks from being accidentally moved out ofstored position.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,227,705 Ulrich May 29, 1917 1,802,102 Zeigler et al Apr. 2l, 19311,841,620 MCCOy Jan. 19, 1932 2,496,673 Neilsen Feb. 7, 1950 FOREIGNPATENTS 352,053 Great Britain June 29, 1931

